Wardrobe Dysfunction: Inaugural Puts Button-Down Town in Tizzy

Soirees Renew Quadrennial Quandary in Washington; Bow Ties, Botox

From Mamie Eisenhower and Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama, the First Lady's inaugural gown is a well-kept state secret. Here's a look at how some of the former (and current) first wives have decked out for Washington's premiere gala event.

By

Elizabeth Williamson

Jan. 17, 2013 10:30 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Lobbyists Lena Moffitt and Dalal Aboulhosn worked the racks last Friday at a temporary boutique set up by Rent the Runway, a New York-based fashion-rental firm. Their mission: Find inaugural ball gowns that defied Washington's button-down standard.

Sipping complimentary wine, they perused strappy, spangly and sexy. They considered super-short, a risk recommended by their office's sole fashionista. The two women, who work for the Sierra Club, an environmental group, wound up in solid-color, floor-sweeping gowns—in other words, stolid political assets that gave away nothing.

Many in Washington, the epicenter of political power, see high fashion as not only irrelevant, but downright suspect. Workaholics take a certain pride in looking like they slept in their clothes. A rakish fedora and cape, by contrast, recalls Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist. A daring dress means D.C. Madam.

Yet every four years it's Inauguration Day, when posh receptions and black-tie balls set the city's gray suits at war with themselves. Do stripes convey sufficient solidity? To sequin or not to sequin? Is hair gel only for the shallow?

"The beauty of D.C. is the culture," said makeup artist Erwin Gomez, but "I see terrible eyebrows."

Washington has had a number of fashionable first ladies to emulate: the flapper-esque, vivacious Grace Coolidge; 31-year-old Jacqueline Kennedy, whose look was copied by millions; and Nancy Reagan, who routinely showcased high-end couturiers. None of those women grew up in Washington. Chicago-born Michelle Obama, too, has inspired women to dress more imaginatively.

Here, "There's an age-old need, or burden, to dress in a way that's not going to raise eyebrows," says Tara McCredie, manager and buyer at Proper Topper, a boutique in Dupont Circle. So when it comes to dressy affairs, "We try to bring women along slowly, give them a little bit more edge…like this dress," she said, holding up a plain black sleeveless sheath with discreet white checks. "It has a pocket."

Presidents have shown even less imagination. This week, clothier Brooks Brothers sent out a news release boasting it has outfitted 39 of 44 presidents, including Barack Obama, in the same neutral wools. But even the ubiquitous "B-squared" felt it necessary this week to hold a "Bow-Tie Primer," with cocktails, to wean Washington from the clip-ons.

Michael Andrews, a high-end men's tailor based in New York, does a brisk trade in rich textured fabrics, bright stripes and plaids. He opened a Washington store in October on a hunch that the city's sartorial drabness was "more a lack of supply than a lack of interest," he said.

Three months later, he said, "I might be jousting at windmills…95% of the suits we've done for D.C. have been solid blue or solid gray, with a disproportionate number of white shirts."

When confined to choosing a tuxedo, it is harder to go wrong, Mr. Andrews said. Just in case, he is telling Washington clients "don't put on a red bow tie or cummerbund."

Style mavens think hope and change might be afoot, at least on the fashion front. The influx of young staffers from the Obama administration and the rise of celebrity culture have brought a wave of style-conscious government workers.

ENLARGE

Stylist April Yvonne

April Jones Firoozabadi, who goes by April Yvonne at work, turned heads at her former government job by "going against the tan pantyhose, navy blue skirts and gray blazers," she says. When invited to certain official meetings, Ms. Firoozabadi, 33, would "do astute," diplo-speak for grooming conformity, with a twist, she says. Her black pants were high-waisted and bell-bottomed with men's suspenders and she wore a white shirt with a colorful man's tie along with bright red pumps.

Her co-workers and bosses began asking her for advice, she says, then their friends, then their friends' friends. She left her former career to have her first child last year and became a full-time stylist. She has just been named "resident stylist" at the Capella hotel in Georgetown, which is scheduled to open this year.

Ayman Hakki, a cosmetic surgeon who has lived in Washington since the Kennedy administration, runs a Georgetown walk-in clinic that he says is jammed with inaugural ball attendees seeking last-minute Botox. For most of its history, the capital has attracted "an older, more homogenous crowd that took pride in a certain kind of haggard look," he said. Not this week.

"Yesterday five people showed up at the same time," he said. "They all left with a big smile on their faces…without a frown."

Celebrity hairstylist Luigi Parasmo said he has noticed that "guys are going to beauty salons instead of barbers. Younger guys' girlfriends tell them, 'go get a manicure and cut your green toenails.' It's a major trend for Washington."

More than just fashion is at stake. Mr. Parasmo speculates that if every member of Congress with a comb-over voted the same way, there would be no more political gridlock.

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